State taking applications for vouchers

Published: Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 7:53 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 7:53 p.m.

Parents interested in sending their children to local private schools next year using the state's voucher program can begin submitting applications online, state officials announced Monday.

The vouchers, which were first offered this year, give taxpayer money to certain public school students to pay private school tuition.

The program is open only to families who make below 250 percent of the federal poverty level and who attend a school graded “C” or lower.

This year, parents can either apply at their school or by visiting louisianabelieves.com/schools and clicking on “Louisiana Scholarship Program.”

The application deadline is March 15.

Last year, 10,000 parents applied for vouchers, but only about 5,000 actually got them.

State Education Superintendent John White said the Department doesn't yet have a list of what schools will be accepting voucher students next year or how many seats they'll offer.

The state is waiting to see how many parents apply before approving each school's total number of seats, White said.

White said he expected the number of seats will increase this year since students already on vouchers will be moving to another grade.

Still, space for voucher students will likely be limited, especially in the Houma-Thibodaux area.

This year, only 65 seats were available in Lafourche Parish, while only 19 were available in Terrebonne Parish.

All the open seats were in local Catholic schools.

Catholic schools superintendent Marian Fertitta said schools are still considering how many voucher students they will take.

“We're certainly going to keep those students that are already on the voucher program if they apply again,” Fertitta said. “Whether we're going to expand or not is up to the individual schools, and we don't have that information yet.”

If local schools get more applications than available seats, the state Department of Education will pick students via a random lottery — the decision for who gets vouchers is out of local school administrators' hands.

The voucher program continues to operate despite a judge's ruling in November that the program unconstitutionally used money specifically dedicated to public schools.

The judge only ruled the method of paying for the program is unconstitutional, not the program itself. The decision is on appeal to the Supreme Court.

White said the verdict won't affect the program for the time being.

“The law requires us to run this program. The law is still on the books, and we are going to run it as if there is no challenge,” White said.

White also said it is possible the state could find other ways to pay for the program even if the ruling is upheld.

Staff Writer Matthew Albright can be reached at 448-7635 or at matthew.albright@dailycomet.com.

<p>Parents interested in sending their children to local private schools next year using the state's voucher program can begin submitting applications online, state officials announced Monday.</p><p>The vouchers, which were first offered this year, give taxpayer money to certain public school students to pay private school tuition.</p><p>The program is open only to families who make below 250 percent of the federal poverty level and who attend a school graded “C” or lower. </p><p>This year, parents can either apply at their school or by visiting louisianabelieves.com/schools and clicking on “Louisiana Scholarship Program.” </p><p>The application deadline is March 15.</p><p>Last year, 10,000 parents applied for vouchers, but only about 5,000 actually got them.</p><p>State Education Superintendent John White said the Department doesn't yet have a list of what schools will be accepting voucher students next year or how many seats they'll offer.</p><p>The state is waiting to see how many parents apply before approving each school's total number of seats, White said.</p><p>White said he expected the number of seats will increase this year since students already on vouchers will be moving to another grade.</p><p>Still, space for voucher students will likely be limited, especially in the Houma-Thibodaux area.</p><p>This year, only 65 seats were available in Lafourche Parish, while only 19 were available in Terrebonne Parish. </p><p>All the open seats were in local Catholic schools. </p><p>Catholic schools superintendent Marian Fertitta said schools are still considering how many voucher students they will take.</p><p>“We're certainly going to keep those students that are already on the voucher program if they apply again,” Fertitta said. “Whether we're going to expand or not is up to the individual schools, and we don't have that information yet.”</p><p>If local schools get more applications than available seats, the state Department of Education will pick students via a random lottery — the decision for who gets vouchers is out of local school administrators' hands.</p><p>The voucher program continues to operate despite a judge's ruling in November that the program unconstitutionally used money specifically dedicated to public schools.</p><p>The judge only ruled the method of paying for the program is unconstitutional, not the program itself. The decision is on appeal to the Supreme Court.</p><p>White said the verdict won't affect the program for the time being. </p><p>“The law requires us to run this program. The law is still on the books, and we are going to run it as if there is no challenge,” White said.</p><p>White also said it is possible the state could find other ways to pay for the program even if the ruling is upheld.</p><p>Staff Writer Matthew Albright can be reached at 448-7635 or at matthew.albright@dailycomet.com.</p>